Decentralization and local governance

Latin America and the Caribbean is the third region with the highest urban growth (after Asia and Africa). Its unplanned urban growth has generated the proliferation of informal settlements that expose children, adolescents and their families to situations of discrimination, exclusion, limited access to public services and infrastructure, risks associated with violence, among other barriers that violate and diminish the possibilities of an integral development.

Currently, 165 million children and adolescents live in urban areas, of which, more than 40 million live in conditions of precarious housing, such as: overcrowding, deprivation of sanitation and low access to basic services. This directly affects the segregation of the population, in which children and adolescents who live under this condition are directly affected in indicators such as health and education.

That is why from UNICEF we seek to develop a territorial approach to sustainable development, by strengthening the services of local governments for children, to ensure that their budgets are equitable and that the allocation of funds is for the benefit of the most vulnerable children and adolescents.